Everland(55)

As I storm toward the entrance of the building, Jack lashes out with pathetic pleas. His words fall away, lost as my boots pound on the floor.

“What if I can offer you a better deal?” Jack shouts.

I stop, shadowed in the dark room, but don’t turn around. “What sort of deal?”

“What if I could tell you a sure way to catch the girl?”

“Why should I invest any more of my time in you? We’ve made agreements and your end of the bargain has fallen through, twice,” I say, taking another step toward the exit. “You were supposed to infiltrate the Lost Boys. Instead, you joined them and never reported back. This time you promised me Gwen. She’s not here. Why should I believe anything you say?”

“I know where Pete and Gwen are going next,” Jack says. “And it doesn’t matter if you burn all of Everland down—you’ll never find them. Not without my information.”

Intrigued, I march back up to the boy. “What is in it for you?”

Jack grimaces, holds his breath, and turns his head away, unwilling to meet my eyes.

“Those boys are more than just a bunch of orphaned kids,” Jack says quietly. He turns his eyes back to me and his glare is murderous. “They’re my family, which is more than I can say about you and your mother.”

Amused, I grin as memories of our childhood resurface in my mind. With nothing to eat but leftover scraps from supper, Jack was always a scrawny kid. While I was allowed to live within Lohr Castle, Jack was forced to sleep in a dilapidated delver’s cottage that served as a den to the forest rats. Jack joined my crusade to England in order to escape the Bloodred Queen’s wrath in exchange for labor. But I can live without him.

Cocking my head to one side, I take in the disheveled boy. “Na?ve little stepbrother. Our parents’ marriage had nothing to do with being family. My mother wanted the crown, and after your father’s unfortunate ‘accident’ ”—I gesture quotation marks in the air—“you were just extra baggage.”

Scowling, Jack spits. “She murdered him and you know it!”

“Murdered is such a harsh word,” I say, circling Jack.

Jack’s face flares red with fury. “Katherina has no right to the throne!”

Laughter bubbles deep within me and erupts in a thunderous roar, echoing off the museum walls. “Now stop wasting my time. What is it you want in exchange for Gwen’s location?”

“Because of you, the Lost Boys have nothing left,” Jack says, narrowing his eyes. “They have no families, no homes, and now they’re going to lose their lives. They are showing symptoms of the virus. They need the antidote and for you and the Marauders to leave. Forever! If we can negotiate a deal to guarantee that, I’ll do whatever I can to get you the girl.”

I stop pacing in front of Jack and hesitate, knowing that it’s torture for him to wait for my response. As kids, he always hated it when he knew I held a secret. At first it was all in fun, but as we got older I knew he’d do just about anything I asked in exchange for information regarding his father’s death. Information I never had, but he didn’t know that.

“Interesting proposition,” I say. “I’ll tell you what, Jack. I can be reasonable. I will give you what you’re asking for, in exchange for information on where they are headed next and the Lost Boys’ hideout.”

“The Lost Boys?” Jack says in an uncertain tone. “What do you want with them?”

“Collateral,” I say, pacing the dark room. “Tell me where the Lost Boys are and give me the girl’s whereabouts, or I will tear Everland apart bit by bit, piece by piece, and without mercy to anyone I come across, starting with you.”

“No, I swore on my life never to reveal the Lost Boys’ hiding place,” Jack says, shaking his head. “I will tell you where to find Gwen, but I won’t reveal the location of the Lost City.”

I straighten, inspecting my Gatling gun and purposely aiming it in Jack’s direction. “It seems water is thicker than blood, stepbrother. Then again, we were never blood, were we?” My brother and I exchange hardened glares, but neither of us budges. Disgust gurgles up within me. “Kill him.”

I rocket toward the doorway, expecting, waiting for my stepbrother to cave. Glancing back at Jack, I recognize the familiar grimace.

A Marauder aims his weapon at Jack’s forehead, while another shoves him to the ground. He falls hard onto his knees. The gun gives an audible click as the soldier pulls back the hammer. Jack’s gaze darts from me to the gun.

“Fine!” Jack shouts. “I’ll tell you, but promise me that you will not harm them.”

“I promise I will not lay a single finger on any of them,” I say, waggling my gloved fingers in the air.

“And you will provide them with the antidote once you have it,” Jack says.

“Deal.” I spin so he can’t see the smirk I feel tickling the corners of my mouth.

“One more thing,” Jack says.

Aggravated, I steal a passing glance over my shoulder. “What now?”

Jack lifts his chin and swallows hard. “When you and your men leave Everland, I’m coming with you.”

After his betrayal, the fact that he abandoned the Marauders, I had no intention of bringing him with me. Caught off guard, I stumble through my words. “You want to come back? What happened to all that nonsense about the Lost Boys being your family?”